Breaking News: School Board President Belanger Steps Down

At the September 10 Rye City Board of Education meeting, president Karen Belanger announced that she was resigning from the position immediately. Having recently become Executive Director of the Westchester Putnam School Boards Association, Belanger wrote in her resignation letter that “the appearance of conflict of interest between my position on the Board of Rye City Schools and my role as Executive Director . . . cannot be ignored.”

Belanger’s resignation set a number of dominoes falling. First, the Board needed to fill the vacant board seat. It chose to nominate Katy Glassberg, former two-term Board president, to fill the seat for the remainder of her term, which expires in June 2020. Second, they also needed to nominate and elect a new president. They chose Jennifer Boyle, the current vice-president. To fill the now vacant VP position, the Board elected Glassberg.

“It is a bittersweet moment,” wrote Belanger, “to be saying goodbye” after eight years on the Board. “Thank you to the Rye community for supporting me in my desire to serve.”